1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a washing machine, and more particularly, to a hook assembly for a door in a washing machine having a simple structure constructed with less parts and easy assembly.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Generally, a washing machine is an apparatus for removing contaminating particles attached to the laundry, e.g., clothes, linen, etc., using reaction between water and detergent. Such a washing machine is categorized into an agitator type, a pulsator type and a drum type.
In the drum type washing machine, a drum holding the laundry, water, and detergent inside is rotated to lift the laundry up by protrusions to perform washing using the shock energy of the laundry falling down and a frictional force thereof. Such a drum type washing machine avoids causing damage to the laundry and prevents the laundry from being entangled, thereby prevailing in use gradually.
Meanwhile, FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a drum type washing machine according to a related art.
Referring to FIG. 1, a cabinet 10 forms an overall exterior of a drum type washing machine, and a laundry entrance 12 is formed at a front side of the cabinet 10. A drum 40 is rotatably installed in the cabinet 10. A door assembly is provided to the front side of the cabinet 10 to open/close the laundry entrance 12. And, the door assembly consists of a hinge assembly 15, a door body 20, a hook assembly 30, and a lock assembly (not shown in the drawing).
FIG. 2 to FIG. 4 are diagrams of a door assembly in FIG. 1. The door assembly is explained in detail by referring to FIG. 2 to FIG. 4 as follows.
The hinge assembly 15, as shown in FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, is formed at one portion of the cabinet 10 in the vicinity of the laundry entrance 12, and rotatably couples a doorframe 21 to the cabinet 10.
The door body 20 consists of a door frame 21 constructed with inner and outer frames 22 and 23 coupled to each other to have an opening at a central part, a door glass 24 provided to the opening to have its circumference fixed between the inner frame and outer frames 22 and 23 of the door frame 21, and a grip 25 provided to the door frame 21. The doorframe 21 is coupled to the hinge assembly 15. And, the grip 25 is formed to protrude from a certain spot of the door frame 21, e.g., an inner circumference of the outer frame 23, as shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, to be grabbed by a user externally.
The hook assembly 30 is formed at one side of the doorframe 21, e.g., a certain spot of the inner frame 22, as shown in FIG. 2 and FIG. 3. The hook assembly 30 includes a hook 31, a spring (not shown in the drawing), and a fixing member 32.
The hook 31 has a head protruding from its one side convexly. The hook 31 is attached to the fixing member 32. The head lies outside the fixing member 32, as shown in FIG. 4, and an end of the hook 31 opposite to the bead is disposed inside or at a rear side of the fixing member 32. For this, a hole 33 is provided to the fixing member 32 to be penetrated by the hook 31. Meanwhile, the fixing member 32 and the inner frame 22 are separately prepared. The spring is provided inside or the rear side of the fixing member 32. One end of he spring is connected to the fixing member 32 and the other end is connected to the hook 31. Thus, the spring gives an elastic restoring force to the hook 31.
The above-constructed hook assembly 30 having been completely assembled is loaded in the doorframe 21. Specifically, the fixing member 32 is installed at an inside of the inner frame 22 by screws or the like. After the fixing member 32 has been installed, the head of the hook 31 penetrates into the inner frame 22 to be externally exposed. For this, a hook hole 22h, as shown in FIG. 4, is formed at a certain spot of the inner frame 22 to be penetrated by the head of the hook 31.
Meanwhile, the lock assembly (not shown in the drawing) is provided to another spot of the cabinet 10 to keep the doorframe 21 closed by holding the head of the hook 31. The lock assembly locks the hook 31 so that the doorframe 21 is not externally opened or releases the hook 31 to let the doorframe 21 be externally opened according to an electric signal transferred from a control unit (not shown in the drawing). Thus, when power is applied to the lock assembly of a general washing machine or dryer, the assembly locks the hook 31 so that it is unable to forcibly open the doorframe 21.
However, in the related art hook assembly 30 of the door assembly, the fixing member 32 has to be fixed to the inner frame 22 by screws or the like after the hook 31 and spring have been assembled to the separately prepared fixing member 32. Hence, the number of the respective parts increases as well as assembling is complicated to reduce productivity.